Mir Jansen AKA Arts Coordinator @ Sheffield Teaching Hospital

I came to this country because I love it. I didn’t have any other reason to live here than I love it here.’

Mir Jansen AKA Arts Coordinator at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals is an artist who is fascinated by the migration of people, and the adaptations made when adopting a new way of life. Mir is particularly interested in the notion of home and the boundaries people create in the places they live.

Mir has been living in the UK for 31 years. A Dutch national, she first moved from Amsterdam to Norwich, before moving to the Steel City to train at Psalter Lane Art College. Mir completed her Masters and joined the group which would go on to form Yorkshire Artspace. A groundbreaking new space in 1977, which continues to provide quality affordable studio space for over 160 Sheffield creatives.

In 2014 Mir began working for Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, working with long stay patients to lift their mood. The arts help patients to engage more with their care and treatment. Proven to help decrease their recovery time.

On 23 June 2016 a referendum was held in UK and the country voted to leave the European Union. Brexit has caused chaos in the country’s politics. Mir, one of hundreds of thousands of EU nationals working in the NHS, used art to try and find cohesion in the chaos.

‘I was really quite shocked. I hadn’t seen it coming. I went through a process of being angry and sad and reflecting. I was then curious to see if other people like me who worked in the NHS felt the same’.

Her exhibition At Your Service sees Mir return to Yorkshire Artspace. An exhibition which gives a deeper understanding of European people living and working in Sheffield today. Beyond the chaos of Brexit negotiations and the headlines that follow, Mir’s exhibition looks at the real lives of European people working for the NHS. Mir’s final words on Britain after Brexit:

‘We need to look at what kind of society we want to be, rather than what trade deals we want.

#CMchaosWhen you think of chaos, you might think of utter confusion, a jumbled mess and destruction.

Life by nature is chaotic. And the human brain is beautifully designed to turn chaos into order. Whether through storytelling, art, or through the veneer of self-delusions, we’re built to handle the randomness and uncertainty of daily life.

We are in control of the story we tell ourselves about the events that unfold before us. We can view chaos as a freight train hitting our soul or we can see it as a catalyst for clarity